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Water in the Nose and Survival on the Mind

USMC News

Story Identification Number: 200322095629
Story by Gunnery Sgt. Keith A. Milks

CAMP LEJEUNE, N.C. (Feb. 20, 2003) -- The video is both absorbing and horrifying. Taken from aboard the USNS Pecos, the images show a CH-46E Sea Knight helicopter from the 15th Marine Expeditionary Unit become ensnarled in the Pecos' safety netting during a shipboard seizure exercise.

Aboard the stricken aircraft, five crewmen and 13 passengers fight for their lives as the helicopter suddenly rolls over and falls top-first into the blue, 3,900-feet-deep water off the California coast. It took less than 40 seconds from the start of the tragedy for tail number 154790 to completely disappear beneath the waves.

Six Marines and a Navy corpsmen died in the Dec. 1999 accident. At the time, select Marines and aviators were subjected to the 'helo dunker,' but there was no standard program for providing individual aircraft passengers with the skills necessary to survive a helicopter crash.

The tragic accident galvanized the Marine Corps into action and in Spring 2001, the Corps implemented a training regimen teaching helicopter passengers how to successfully egress from a sinking helicopter.

For nearly 18 months, Marine and Navy instructors taught the Interim Passenger Helicopter Aircrew Breathing Device (IPHABD) Familiarization Course, but the Marine Corps turned to a civilian contracting company to standardize the training.

The contract was awarded to Survival Systems Inc., which began teaching the course in Sept. 2002. Dual headquartered in Canada and the U.S., SSI traces its origins to 1978 when it began teaching water survival techniques to offshore oil rig workers.

Recently, Marines and Sailors from the 22nd Marine Expeditionary Unit underwent the training, and according to Capt. James R. Gibson, of Longbranch, New Jersey, the key benefits of the training lie in familiarizing the Marines with the survival equipment and procedures.

"The HABD/SWET (Shallow Water Egress Trainer) training prepares Marines to survive in the unlikely event that an aircraft must ditch at sea," said Gibson, a KC-130 Hercules pilot serving as the MEU's assistant air officer. "As with any piece of gear, familiarity with the proper operating procedures and prior exposure to the device will greatly improve a Marine's chances of survival."

For many Marines, the half-day course was their first exposure to advanced water survival training beyond annual water survival qualification.

"Some Marines come to us with apprehension, skepticism, and some even with fear in their eyes," said retired Navy Lt. Commander Edward E. Humphrey, SSI's chief water survival instructor aboard Camp Lejeune. "We work closely with each Marine and maintain a calm, non-threatening posture. At the end of the training, we give them a fighting chance to egress a helo should the unthinkable occur."

According to Humphrey, the training consists of a period of classroom instruction followed by training in the pool. The primary water training device is the 'SWET chair,' a mock helicopter seat attached to buoys manned by SSI instructors.

"All trainees first visit the SWET chair for three breath-holding exercises," said Humphrey.

Strapped into the seat wearing their utility uniform and helmet, the Marines are briefed on the best method to egress the seat. The Marines then adopt a crash position with their feet flat on the deck, hands grasping the seat, and bent at the waist. The instructor's call of "ditching, ditching, ditching" is their cue to gulp a final breath of air before they are spun 180 degrees until they are sitting upside down underwater.

The complete rotation is designed to simulate what would occur when a top-heavy helicopter strikes the water and turns over. The first dunking has the trainee remain underwater for five seconds to demonstrate he can retain his composure.

The second and third evolutions are a bit trickier. When he is placed underwater a second time, the trainee must find a reference point, unbuckle from the seat and then exit the SWET through a small opening resembling a helicopter window. The third evolution calls for a window to be placed over the opening that the student must open before swimming through.

This evolution complete, the trainees then practice using the IPHABD, a small tank of air strapped to the floatation devices required for helicopter passengers. They are taught to ensure it is functioning and practice breathing with the device when submerged, and to purge it should the device fill with water.

"The most difficult task for the trainees to perform is the wall hang," said Humphrey. "Here they hang completely upside down [underwater] with their sinus passages flooded while trying to clear water from the regulator unit."

Trainees, assisted by an instructor, are lowered into the water three times. The first time they hold their breath, the second time with the breathing device in place, and the third time requires they purge the device.

Upon completion of the wall training, the trainees return to the SWET chair where they repeat the earlier dunking evolutions, except now they do so with the use of the IPHABD. The culmination of the training is when the trainees are dunked, employ their IPHABD, and egress the SWET chair while wearing 'black-out' goggles that simulate being submerged at night or in murky water.

At each stage of the training, the instructors, most of whom are retired or former Marines and Sailors, critique the trainees on their performance and offer suggestions to increase their survivability. Throughout the training, one of the instructors, a former firefighter and emergency medical technician (EMT), is on hand.

"Everyone should go through this training," said Lance Cpl. Robert S. Hage, of Howard County, Maryland, an administrator assigned to the MEU Personnel Administrative Center. "It gave me first-hand insight on what happens in a helo crash and what steps I should take to survive."

Hage, who admits to harboring an apprehension about the water, said the training helped dispel long-standing fears of the water and gave him confidence in his abilities to survive in a helicopter mishap over the water.

In addition to Camp Lejeune, SSI has set up shop at Camp Pendleton, Marine Corps Air Station Kanehoe Bay, Hawaii, and in Okinawa, Japan. Marines designated as 'frequent flyers' are required to undergo the training every four years.